Entertainment

Facebook vs. Google: Which Do Consumers Like More? [STATS]

Coming off a phenomenal year, Facebook is close to narrowing the gap with Google when it comes to public sentiment, but is not quite there yet, according to research from YouGov's BrandIndex.

The company, which polls 5,000 people per day online, found that Facebook currently has a "Buzz Score" of 31.3 vs. 39 for Google. Those figures are based on averaging positive scores (+100) with negative ones (-100). In other words, if you polled three people and two had a positive view of Google and the third didn't, the buzz score would be calculated by dividing 200 by three to get a score of 66.7.

The final numbers only tell part of the story, though. Google started the year with a 45.1 Buzz Score, so 39 is down by 6.1 points. Facebook, meanwhile, only edged up slightly for all of 2010, but the brand's Buzz Score see-sawed throughout the year. Privacy concerns over the summer sent Facebook's score into the single digits, while the opening of the movie The Social Network in October prompted another drop. Since then, though, Facebook's Buzz Score has been steadily climbing.

"You are talking about more recognition than ever, booming business, talk of IPO, Time magazine cover, etc. that has helped them," says Drew Kerr, a rep for BrandIndex.

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